frst steps & adventures

yep, she has started! ruby has been taking steps for about a week now. at first it was one shuffle, and then down. now it is about 7-10 shuffles before the bum touches the ground! and she is so pleased with herself when she does it! she giggles and smiles the whole time like she can't believe her legs are moving underneath her. it is fantastic! i hope to get it on video soon, but i need to just have the camera on and ready to go instead of attempting to run and find it when she gets going.
ruby's grandma carolyn and pop-pop artie were here for 2 weeks to see her. we went on a short trip to York and North Yorkshire while they were here. if you ask ruby about this adventure she would probably complain about being in her carseat or stroller too much, but, alas, that is the way of a roadtrip when you are 11 months old. the York Moors are gorgeous, and we also saw Hadrian's wall which was interesting, but the weather didn't cooperate too much (in the 50s and either foggy or drizzling) for the trip. my parents seem to bring bad weather when they come in the summer... go figure, you would think coming from florida they would bring a heat wave! no such luck!
ruby is also stepping up her slick moves on the dance floor. she now "sings" to certain songs, does hand movements that correspond to the words, and does this great head-bob/shoulder lift that is absolutely hysterical. again, something that has escaped the video camera up until now. currently her favorite songs are: Twinkle-twinkle little star, If you're happy and you know it, and All summer long by Kid Rock (must be the southern girl in her).
we are getting ready for the birthday next weekend! the present are bought, the wrapping paper is ready to be used up, and the decorations are anticipating being hung. can't wait!!!

11 months old

it has been so warm here, ruby is trying to cool off via the fridge! well, the first part is true (it made it to 72 yesterday), but ruby's fascination with the fridge has more to do with the novelty of dropping things on the floor than cooling off. we have put copboard locks all over the kitchen, but the 2 things we can't lock are the fridge and freezer!
Still not walking, but Ruby is getting more confident on her feet, less wobbly and more willing to take risks. anything can be used to pull herself up! and she can stand for a long time on her own, but slowly her legs give out and she drifts down onto her knees in slow-motion.
we are feeling the gas crunch over here too, our prices have rocketed in the past few months. we pay about £1.20 per liter, and there are over 3 liters to a US gallon. so say about £5 a gallon, which converts to about $10 a gallon(with the current exchange rates). crazy, eh??? no wonder the cars are smaller, the engines are smaller and we have such great rail service!

summer

I think someone took the scotland that i knew and traded it with some other bizarro-scotland. maybe it is global warming... whatever the fluke, because i am sure it is a fluke, we are having some glorious weather! when i say glorious, i mean the following: high 50s to high 60s, little wind and gobs of sunshine. the weather has been so great that i have been wearing skirts, and ruby has been lathered with sunscreen on her bare arms and legs when we leave the house! i have a fear that someone will wake me from this amazing dream.....

we happen to have a great park near our house that has all the equipment that kids need to tire them out. ruby is a big fan of the swings, and she is getting used to the little slide there too. we try to go a few times a week, but it isn't a best kept secret, so the swings are usually full. this is also the last week of all the playgroups and music times that we go to. they close up shop for the summer, so we will have to meet up with our friends at the afore mentioned park for some outdoor fun. i hope this weather lasts!!!

10 months old

internet? what is that!? ever since Ruby started
crawling, i barely have time to sit in front of this contraption! one of the only things she really dislikes, besides gratch eating her toast, is sitting in front of the computer while mommy types. so if you don't hear from me, or i haven't posted in a while, you know why.
ruby is great. she is funny, smart, friendly and beautiful. we love her and can't say too many wonderful things about her no matter how early she wakes us up, or how many nappies we must change. we love watching her change and seeing her personality emerge. and we love the fact that she teaches us things, in the best buddha-like style.

9 months

i can not believe it! if only the 9 months of pregnancy went by as quickly! i guess expectation makes pregnancy seem so long. now when she is growing and changing you want to hold onto every second of every day, and you realize that life is such a fleeting thing. now when we go to classes, ruby is one of the bigger babies and the other younger babies seem so small and boring. i say to myself "was ruby ever like that? did she ever just lay there like a blob?" i guess it is good that i say this to myself, or i might get myself into trouble with the other mommies.....
although we have both been sick in the past few weeks (and i have been slammed with hayfever), we have been out enjoying the nicer spring-ish weather. ruby has started to go to playgroups and music classes. she enjoys watching the bigger kids (toddlers) play, and is really gentle with the smaller babies.
she is crawling and now has 4 teeth! she is getting better with finger foods, but still prefers her food pretty smooshy. gratch is still her favorite thing, and now he is constantly looking over his shoulder to make sure she isn't sneeking up on him. he grudgingly loves her too, the perfect older brother!

surprise trip!

we just returned home from a very quick surprise trip to Florida! we were only there about a week, enough time to thaw out, shop and see some family. we tried to keep it quiet because we knew that we would not have time to fit everyone in if they knew we were in town. don't worry, we will be back in the US in December for a proper visit!

Ruby enjoyed her first trip to the states. she could wear almost nothing and still be warm, she got carried around by lots of people who were dying to meet her, and she was adored by strangers all over the place. she loves to travel, and did really well on the very long plane rides (lucky for us). she can't wait to go back and see more friends and family in december.

ruby is now over 8 months old, about 19 pounds and beginning to crawl! gratch is getting worried, but he has been giving her his ball so that she is trained early on how to throw it to his exact specifications.

springless-ness

i looked back at last March's entries, and at about the same time last year I was complaining about winter weather at the end of March. I guess i should get used to the fact that 'spring break' here isn't the same as in Florida. Spring break used to mean the beginning of beach attire and tanning lotion, now it means wrestling the north wind over control of the stroller and lotion for chapped cheeks.
ruby is growing and finally getting into 6-9 months clothes. as the scots say she is "coming on well"! she has got this cute little baby belly, and rolls that we like to refer to as muscles. she is getting closer and closer to crawling so we have begun to baby-proof the house in preparation.